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Pope Prays For Unity of Church As He Celebrates Anniversary of Vatican II

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Second Vatican Council was the universal Catholic Church’s response to God’s love and to Jesus’ command to feed his sheep, Pope Francis said, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the council’s opening.

The council reminded the church of what is “essential,” the pope said: “a church madly in love with its Lord and with all the men and women whom he loves,” one that “is rich in Jesus and poor in assets,” a church that “is free and freeing.”

Pope Francis presided over the Mass Oct. 11 in St. Peter’s Basilica, where the council sessions were held in four sessions from 1962 to 1964. The date is also the feast of St. John XXIII, who convoked and opened the council; the glass urn containing his body was moved to the center of the basilica for the liturgy.

The Gospel reading at the Mass recounted Jesus asking St. Peter, “Do you love me?” and telling him, “Feed my sheep.”

In his homily, the pope said the council was the church’s response to that question and marked a renewed effort to feed God’s sheep, not just those who are Catholic, but all people.

The debates that followed the council and continue today are a distraction from the church’s mission, Pope Francis said.

“We are always tempted to start from ourselves rather than from God, to put our own agendas before the Gospel, to let ourselves be caught up in the winds of worldliness in order to chase after the fashions of the moment or to turn our back the time that providence has granted us,” he said.

Catholics must be careful, he said, because “both the ‘progressivism’ that lines up behind the world and the ‘traditionalism’ that longs for a bygone world are not evidence of love, but of infidelity,” forms of “selfishness that puts our own tastes and plans above the love that pleases God, the simple, humble and faithful love that Jesus asked of Peter.”

“A church in love with Jesus has no time for quarrels, gossip and disputes,” the pope said. “May God free us from being critical and intolerant, harsh and angry. This is not a matter of style but of love.”

Jesus, the good shepherd, “wants his flock to be united under the guidance of the pastors he has given them,” the pope said, but the devil loves to sow division; “let us not give in to his enticements or to the temptation of polarization.”

“How often, in the wake of the council, did Christians prefer to choose sides in the church, not realizing that they were breaking their mother’s heart,” the heart of their mother, the church, Pope Francis said.

How often, he asked, did they prefer “to be on the ‘right’ or ‘left,’ rather than with Jesus? To present themselves as ‘guardians of the truth’ or ‘pioneers of innovation’ rather than seeing themselves as humble and grateful children of Holy Mother Church?”

The council, he said, taught the church to see the world around it and to share God’s love with all, knowing that “if it is fitting to show a particular concern, it should be for those whom God loves most: the poor and the outcast.”

With Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant representatives present, as they were at the council, Pope Francis also prayed that “the yearning for unity” would grow within each Christ, “the desire to commit ourselves to full communion among all those who believe in Christ.”

Thanking God for the gift of the council, the pope asked the Lord to “save us from the forms of polarization that are the devil’s handiwork. And we, your church, with Peter and like Peter, now say to you: ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that we love you.’”

Pope Francis, who was ordained to the priesthood in 1969, is the first pope ordained after the Second Vatican Council. His immediate predecessor, now-retired Pope Benedict XVI, attended all four sessions of the council as a theological adviser — a “peritus” — to the archbishop of Cologne, Germany. St. John Paul II participated in all four sessions as a full member of the body, first as auxiliary bishop of Krakow, Poland, and then as archbishop of the city.

Among the more than 400 priests concelebrating the Mass, the Vatican liturgical office said there were five who were present at Vatican II.

According to the websites GCatholic.org and catholic-hierarchy.org, there are six bishops alive in the world today who participated in at least one session of the Second Vatican Council. Among them is Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, an 89-year-old former Vatican official who was ordained a bishop in 1965 and attended the council’s last session; he was one of the concelebrants at the anniversary Mass.

Before the Mass, passages were read from the speech St. John XXIII gave at the council’s opening. Known by its opening words in Latin, “Gaudet Mater Ecclesia,” the speech begins: “Mother Church rejoices.”

Selections from the council’s four constitutions also were read. Pope Francis has asked Catholics to prepare for the Holy Year 2025 by re-reading and studying the documents: Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (“Sacrosanctum Concilium”); Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (“Lumen Gentium”); Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (“Dei Verbum”); and Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (“Gaudium et Spes”).

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday 10/11/22

Students in the Diocese of Brooklyn are joining in prayer for peace and unity.

President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders are meeting virtually today.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is pleading for help from the federal government to deal with the influx of migrants in the city.

Tattling on those who park illegally could soon be lucrative.

Brooklyn Catholic Academy Students Join ‘A Million Children Praying The Rosary’

Over this past year nearly six thousand Christians were killed for their faith. As persecution continues worldwide, Aid To The Church In Need is asking for prayers from the most innocent among us.

Students at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Academy are joining in on “A Million Children Praying The Rosary.”

Currents News Jessica Easthope has the story from Windsor Terrace.

President Of the Italian American One Voice Coalition Says Canceling Columbus is Canceling All Italians

Andre’ DiMino, the President of the Italian American One Voice Coalition, believes Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day falling on the same date isn’t fair to either group.

“Columbus Day should remain a federal holiday. We’ve got nothing against Indigenous Peoples’ Day, in fact we want to celebrate right along with them. They should have their own day, but it shouldn’t infringe upon Columbus Day and pit two groups against each other,” DiMino told Currents News.

“What people are saying about Columbus, the atrocities and so forth are really just not true. Those have been disputed by verifiable facts and primary sources. Those are things that have been tried as part of cancel culture,” he continued.

DeSales Media Group Partners with Vinea Research to Pinpoint the Needs of Catholics

Currents News Staff

In a groundbreaking study, DeSales Media Group, the parent company of Currents News, joined forces with Vinea Research to investigate “intentional discipleship.”

They examined more than 3,000 “intentional disciples”, basically Catholics across the country who take their faith seriously, to pinpoint their needs.

The researchers say some results were expected but others were surprising.

Joining us now to break down what all this information means is Dave Plisky, the Director of Product and Innovation for DeSales Media Group.

Download the entire report for free at https://desalesmedia.org/discipleship/

Catholic News Headlines for Monday 10/10/22

St. Patrick’s Cathedral was packed this morning for the annual Columbus Day Mass that precedes the parade.

Deadly explosions rocked Ukraine overnight.

We have the results of a groundbreaking study that pinpoints the needs of devout Catholics across the country.

78th Annual Columbus Day Parade Steps Off Amid Renewed Controversy

By Bill Miller and Jessica Easthope

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN — The Columbus Day Parade on Monday drew thousands of spectators to honor the famed explorer while joyfully proclaiming the contributions of Italian Immigrants to their new homeland — the United States.

The parade rolled down 5th Avenue with dozens of marching bands and floats from over 100 groups, including the Diocese of Brooklyn. Italian and U.S. flags waved beneath sunny skies and comfortable autumn temperatures. 

Still, the 78th annual event preceded another push in Albany to change the official holiday’s name to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. It also followed efforts around the U.S. to remove statues of Christopher Columbus from public spaces.

The new legislation, however, has received pushback from both gubernatorial candidates — Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin. Both marched in the parade, and both criticized the idea of changing the holiday.

Shortly before the parade stepped off, Angelo Vivolo, president of the Columbus Heritage Coalition, who also helps run the parade, said that the support from both candidates was a relief.

 

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“We’re very fortunate,” Vivolo said. “Gov. Hochul and Congressman Zeldin both committed that should any legislation come to their desk to nullify or to do away with Columbus Day, they would veto it. So we have confidence in that.”

Vivolo said his group resists scrapping Columbus Day or holding it concurrently with an Indigenous People’s Day. Therefore, the group promotes separate days for both.

“We think it’s a disservice, a disrespect to both communities, both cultures,” Vivolo said. “We just want it to be on a separate day.”

The day started with a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was concelebrated by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York, Bishop Robert Brennan, and Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio, who delivered the homily. Auxiliary bishops from the archdiocese and diocese also concelebrated.

During the homily, Bishop DiMarzio recounted the struggles of Italian newcomers to the U.S. a century ago. He also drew comparisons to the plights of modern-day immigrants coming up from the border with Mexico.

Later, he remarked that many of the statues targeted for removal were commissioned by immigrants and their succeeding generations.

“Poor people gave money because they were proud of Columbus, that he discovered America,” Bishop DiMarzio said. “What did they know about what everybody else was thinking 75 years later?

“But people have rewritten history, and now they say that he discovered America and everything that came after was his fault. That one doesn’t work.”

Sponsors of the Bill to change Columbus Day, Assemblywoman Marcela Mitaynes (D-Brooklyn) and state Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens) — both claim indigenous roots. They plan to push the proposal forward when the state Legislature reconvenes next year.

The legacy of Columbus is associated with colonization and western expansion that ultimately decimated native cultures.

Vivolo countered that Columbus was an “evangelist.”

 “He wanted to spread Christianity throughout the world,” Vivolo said. “That was his goal. And he did it.”